I started back to yoga classes last week and had completely forgotten how much I LOVE doing yoga even if I do feel like a wrung out rag the next day!! The Yogi was a wonderful young woman who had The Light radiating from her. I instantly attached to her and we had a great chat about massage and how much more East meets West is going on in this little mountain town. She hooked me up with the woman who's coordinating the Massage Awareness week, so hopefully I can get out and do some free massages! That would be most wonderful!
After the class I went with my mother to the Russian Orthodox church to see the icon, Our Lady of Sitka http://www.forcc.org/ladyofsitka.html Since this is a small mountain town, the church wasn't expecting that a lot of people would go see her or attend The Akathist Service for her. Well, surprise of surprises, when my mother and I finally found a place to park, the big ornate church had people waiting out both doors and out to the sidewalk! We found a place in line and slowly made our way through the nave and finally in through the large, ornate doors. As I stepped over the threshold, singing began that was unearthly! I couldn't tell where it was coming from!! I actually had to ask my mother if she was hearing it too, or were there angels singing?? The inside of the church (should read cathedral) was beautifully ornate with wonderful paintings of the apostles in triptychs above their portraits, the stations of the cross (guessing here.. I'm not Catholic) below that. Behind filigree white walls with golden edges at the front was a rotunda just like the European cathedrals that were used for the pilgrims to file around on their journey. An altar in the middle.The ceiling was vaulted with another rotunda of sorts and paintings of the sky and angels. The front was flanked with two large panels of The Virgin holding Jesus. As we made our way down the center aisle two by two, the priest announced that they were starting the Akathist Service and they wanted the multitude to continue to come to the front of the church to honor the icon. There was not an empty space in any pew. The smell of incense and burning wax, the ethereal singing from both the choir and the congregation and the powerful energy given off by the people in the church was intoxicating! The feelings of the paritioners was palpable. I've never felt an energy like that except when I was an escort for the Dalai Lama! When we finally made our way to the front of the church we could see the painting on an easel. It was surrounded by probably eight standing priests dressed in black. Looking very Russian or Eastern European. They were all singing. One priest sat on a low wooden chair. His back to us, facing the icon. We watched people kissing Mary and Jesus, touching the ground in front of the icon and crossing themselves. This being foreign to me, it only added to the mystery of it all. When I was alone with the artwork. I looked deep into the eyes of Mary. They say to look at their eyes. Mary's and Jesus'. That many healings have occurred by looking at them. I couldn't think of anything to put a miracle to, so I asked for a healing for my mother's hips and please bring closure to the Iraq mess if it was in the cards to do so... Oh, and maybe a little something for our landlady's breast cancer.. I'm not sure how I feel about miracles. But, it was a very notable experience that I'll carry with me right in the same pocket of my soul that carries the energy of the Dalai Lama!
Namaste!!
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